Hurt and Missing
by animexchick
Summary: When a routine mission turns to a disaster it becomes a race against time to save one of their own
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the musketeers **

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Pain, everything hurt.

That was his first thought as he wearily opened his eyes. Staring up at the rocky ceiling above him he desperately tried to piece together what happened to get him into this situation.

He remembered a mission… Confusion crossing his features as he tried to remember the details, a delivery mission his still slightly foggy mind told him, a crucial letter had to be delivered to a close friend to the King. It contained confidential information and Treville had entrusted him and his brothers to protect and deliver…

Wait! His brothers!

Panic rose in his chest as he desperately tried to get up, move and locate his seemingly missing brothers. Only to be stopped when an excruciating amount of pain waved through his side. Breathing though the pain he decided to first take stock of his injury, if he were bleeding out then he wouldn't be able to be any help to his brothers if they were in a similar state as him.

Pushing down another wave of panic at this thought he slowly moved his hands to the location of his pain, fully expecting to be met with a gash, open wound or at least a fair amount of blood, however his fingers ghosted across thread. _Stitches? Who stitched me up?_ Stitching was usually his job being the self-appointed medic of the group. Breathing through the pain Aramis slowly moved into a slightly sat up position and stared at the needlework. _Too neat to be Porthos _he observed with fondness at his bear-of-a-brother's atrocious needle skills. _So that leaves either Athos or D'Art _blanching at the thought of forcing his youngest brother to stitch up his skin Aramis did a visual check of the rest of him. No other injuries that required attention, some bruising undoubtedly but all manageable he decided.

Aramis's attention then turned to getting up and finding his brothers, however his focus was torn from this when a pained groan was heard from behind him. Biting his cheek to stop himself from groaning in pain he maneuvered himself up and turned to the source of the groan, shock marring his features as he saw his beloved brother Porthos, unconscious but showing signs of waking, lying on the ground with what appeared to be the remnants of a blanket, torn into strips, wrapped around his leg as a makeshift bandage, while a bloody lead ball lay on the ground near him. _Musket ball _he surmised _well that explains his injury at least. _Removing the bandage carefully as to not to cause his already wounded brother any more pain he checked over the wound. Neatly and carefully stitched, much like his wound. Definitely done by one of his other two brothers. Placing a hand on Porthos's forehead he was also pleased to feel no signs of fever.

Seeing no other injuries on his brother aside from the occasional cut, which by the smell of wine on the skin, had already been cleaned but were too shallow to require stitching Aramis decided to attempt standing again. He still had two more brothers to find after all.

"'Mis?" a groggy voice from beside him stopped his attempt, turning back to his brother he saw a pair of pain-filled but lucid eyes staring back at him. "I'm here Porthos" he smiled placing his hand on his brother's arm for more reassurance. "Wh... What happened?" Porthos croaked out. Wincing at the rawness of his brother's voice but not seeing any water near to offer Aramis simply focused on the question asked "To be honest, I have no idea" he said running the hand, not resting on his brother through his hair, already missing his hat. "It would seem we were attacked during our mission, I woke up a little while ago over there" pointing to the spot he previously occupied.

At this announcement Porthos's expression changed from pained confusion to panic as his eyes ghosted over Aramis's form looking for injury. Seeing this Aramis immediately went to calm him "I'm fine, took a sword to the side would be my guess looking at the wound" lifting his shirt to show Porthos "hurts but is manageable, either Athos or D'Artangan took care of it. Same as they did the musket wound in your leg… Speaking of our brothers can you sit up I don't know where they are… or where we are for that matter and it's easier to defend yourself if your not on your back."

Nodding Porthos pushed himself up into a seated position, grinding his teeth against the pain when he shifted his leg. Looking around for the first time since waking up Porthos noted that they seem to be in a cave of some sort, though where exactly he had no clue. He remembered delivering the letter as ordered and the start of the journey home, him and D'Artangan had decided to have a competition to see who could throw the most pebbles into Aramis's beloved hat before he noticed or before Athos had had enough and stopped them, which ever happened first.

His trip down memory lane was interrupted however by Aramis's shout of ATHOS! Turning his head sharply to the direction of the shout Porthos could see Aramis kneeling over what appeared to be an injured Athos.

Not one to stay still when his brothers needed his he pushed himself to his feet, once again grinding his teeth as the action sent waves of pain though his leg and began to limp over to his brother. What he saw made him wince in sympathy for his friend as he had clearly taken the brunt on the attack. Whilst he and Aramis had most superficial wounds minus his leg and Aramis's side Athos had, if the splint was anything to go by, a broken hand, _luckily not his sword hand though _and several deep cuts across his body all of which had been lovingly stitched, not to Aramis's standard but still neatly enough to minimalize any possible scaring. Porthos also noted the beginnings of a rather nasty looking bruise on Athos's temple suggesting the possibility that their friend may have a concussion.

He was about to suggest that they attempt to wake their fallen brother, knowing that head wounds even minor ones if left untreated can be dangerous when Athos began to show signs of awakening. Shifting himself to the floor to be by his brothers side when he woke he watched as Aramis patted Athos's face, calling him name to further aid the man in waking up.

"'Mis?" a clearly pained voice spoke "P'thos?" Both men smiled at this, their brother's head wound clearly causing no memory issues. "We're here, my friend" Aramis replied repeating the action of placing a hand on his brother's arm as he had done to Porthos. "You were wounded during an attack as we returned from delivering that letter to the Kings friend do you remember that?" Silence followed Aramis's question for several moments before he received a nod in reply. Smiling at his friend Aramis continued "My guess would be that following the attack our young gascon friend was able to get us into here and treat our wounds –"

"Clearly the whelps been lis'ning when 'Mis rambles" Porthos interjected with a cheeky grin aimed at the marksman.

"I do not ramble!" Aramis retorted with an air of mild offence at the insinuation "ANYWAY as I was saying D'Artangan seems to have set your hand and cleaned and stitched all your wounds as well as Porthos's leg and my side" he finished lifting his shirt to show Athos the wound knowing full well that his friend's protective nature would insist on seeing it before anything else.

"Wh… Where is the boy?" Athos asked breathily, his ribs were bruised he concluded if talking caused him the pain that it did.

"That my friend" Aramis replied running his hand through his hair again, with a look of confusion growing on his face, "is a very good question"


	2. Chapter 2

Cold, so very cold.

He had no idea how long he had been stuck in this room; the pain and the cold had blurred all sense of time for him, only concern for his injured brothers stopped him from giving in to oblivion.

Aramis! His beloved older brother who lived passionately, he remembered the moment the mercenary's sword sliced through his brother's side.

Porthos! His bear-of-a-brother who was always quick with a joke, smile and hidden card up his sleeve, he remembered the moment he heard the musket go off and Athos's yelling his name as he fell to the ground.

Athos! His mentor, best friend, father figure and occasional hero (if he was being honest with himself), he remembered the sickening sound of the bones in his hand breaking as the man was distracted ascertaining the severity of Porthos's wound.

He had done everything he could for these men, his brothers… His family. Once the battle was over, which thankfully happened shortly after Porthos fell, he had managed to gather their horses, not for the first time being thankful that musketeer horses weren't skittish when it came to the sounds of battle. Getting and keeping his brothers on their horses had proven to be a much larger challenge then originally thought and once they were all settled he had led them back the way they had come from, remembering seeing a well obscured cave on their journey earlier in the day. Once he had his brothers settled deep enough within the cave that they wouldn't be openly spotted by any remaining mercenaries and had covered the horses tracks from earlier he had tended to their wounds as best he could, desperately willing himself to remember everything the sharp-shooter medic had ever tried to teach him about healing.

It had taken hours and he had to force down several waves of panic when his ministrations failed to cause any of his brothers to wake, or even stir. It was only when he remembered the long few days ride they had previously plus the affects of battle and blood loss that he reasoned his brothers simply needed rest.

It was after this that his memory became fuzzy he realized. He remembered doing one last check on his brothers before leaving to go get some more water from the nearby lake and then waking up here… Where-ever here was

Fighting off another wave of nausea, he must have been hit on the head and knocked out he deduced, D'Artangan decided to try to focus the rest of his energy on both figuring out where he was and how he was going to get back to his brothers.

Whilst he was deciding to go about this however he failed to notice the door to his current lodgings open and 3 men enter, his concussed brain only allowing him to focus on one thing at a time. It was only when the apparent leader of the group spoke that D'Artangan even noticed them, his head snapping up so fast he once again had to struggle to fight off another wave of nausea, least he empty his stomach on the mans shoes – which, he later decides, he sorely wished he had done.

"Well, well, well looks like the runts finally awake huh? Good now we can get started."


	3. Chapter 3

Hours the men had waited in the cave, waited for their fourth; the youngest, their baby brother to return. As the minutes had turned to an hour and an hour had turned to two and finally three the men's anxiety had grown to such a level it was practically a physical entity.

The men had first assumed their brother had simply gone to check on wherever their horses must be, they all knew of his fondness for the creatures due to his childhood spent on a farm surrounded by the animals. However a cursory check of the perimeter by Aramis, the only one between then currently not sporting a possible concussion or leg wounds, had alerted the men to both the location of horses, D'Artangan had clearly tried to set them free to not bring attention to the cave but the animals were loyal to their masters and had not wandered far from the cave, and the fact that their brother was nowhere to be seen.

Returning to the caves' entrance with bad news was not what Aramis had wanted to do, knowing full well that the news of D'Artangan's continued absence would only add further stress to his already wounded brothers. However when he arrived he did however spot the rest of their supplies and saddlebags, relieved by the amount of food remaining as this would suggest that they had not been unconscious for too long, either that or D'Artangan had chosen to forgo food in favour of tending to them or he had been gone a lot longer than they originally thought. Neither of these ideas gave him any comfort so he tried his best to push them out of his mind and resume focusing on conducting an inventory of what they had left.

They had no bandages remaining, however he had already suspected this when he saw both Athos's wounds and the fact that Porthos's leg had been bandaged with a torn up blanket. His herbs, he noticed, remained, this brought a small smile to his face as Aramis realized that while the youngster had paid some attention to his attempts at teaching it would seem that the boy had drifted off when he had tried to explain the different herbs and how to go about mixing up poultices to help prevent or combat infections. His smile grew when he saw water skins nestled with the rest of the supplies, although two seemed to be missing, coming to the conclusion that the boy had simply left to go find more water before his brothers awoke Aramis grabbed the two remaining water skins and returned to his brothers.

"Any sign of the pup 'Mis?" Porthos asked as soon as he spotted the sharpshooter approaching.

"He wasn't with the horses-" Aramis put up his hand to stop his brothers in their tracks as both attempted to rise with matching concerned expressions on their faces "-I found two of our water skins over there with the rest of our supplies, it would appear that D'Art simply stepped out to fetch more water before we awoke. I would imagine that he should return soon." This information seemed to placate the men as they settled back into seating positions on the floor before taking long drinks of from the water skins Aramis practically thrust at them.

However this peace was short lived as after an hour Athos concern had once again grown.

"He should be back by now. I don't like this"

"Relax Athos" Aramis stated, trying his best to push down his own growing concern "He's probably decided to do some hunting while he was gone, we don't have much in the way of meat if you remember." Pleased when his brother seemed to relax at this explanation of their youngest brothers absence.

Now approaching the third hour since they became aware of their brothers absence nothing either Porthos or Aramis could suggest would placate Athos's growing anxiety and concern, probably because the men themselves didn't really believe what they were saying and were equally concerned about the length of time D'Artangan had been missing.

Noticing his brothers were moments away from getting up and searching for their missing member, as was he if he was being honest, Aramis intercepted them, ignoring the scowl growing on Athos's face at the action.

"Let me check your wounds-"

"ENOUGH Aramis he's out there ALONE! We need to find him!" Athos shouted at the medic.

"-And once I'm sure your constant twitching hasn't pulled any of your stitches, EITHER of you-" He spoke calmly but with a slightly hardened tone to before "-we can go and search for him. I'm not about to let you ruin the boys fine needlework only hours after he applied it." Pausing while calming himself to speak in a softer tone "You are not the only one who cares for the boy. He is our brother too"

Athos, who seemed to calm at Aramis speech looked at the man with a guilty look crossing his features "Apologies my friend." A smile from the man who had at that point moved on from Athos to check Porthos's leg assured him that he had been forgiven.

Porthos stood as soon as Aramis had finished retying the bandage on his leg. He did not do well sitting on the sidelines when one of his brothers potentially needed him. Stretching out the kinks in his neck and shoulders he turned to his friends "What we waitin' for? Lets go find the whelp."


	4. Chapter 4

Being forced to return to the cave they had woken in without their young gascon was not something any of the men liked, but the rapidly diminishing light forced the men to return empty handed.

The fact that they had found the lake they knew D'Artangan would have gone to for water and found evidence of him there by ways of the two other water skins on the ground, both filled, had only caused their worry and concern for their young friend to grow to new sky-high levels.

So being forced to retreat back to the cave with no other information had led the men to set up a fire and cook dinner in a tense silence.

It was Porthos however who broke the silence between them once they were in the middle of eating "How long till the captain comes lookin' for us?" at the slightly confused looks that he was given at the question he continued "we were already a day late, what with that bridge being damaged cos of the rain, plus this. We're now at least two days passed what the captain gave us for this mission, and while I'll be glad for the assistance in looking for D'Art I really don't wanna be the one to explain that we managed to lose the pup so soon after he became a musketeer."

The last part was clear intended to try and remove some of the almost suffocating tension in the room and Porthos was secretly pleased when both of his brothers relaxed and smiled slightly both at his attempt at levity and the reminder that they would undoubtedly soon have back up in their search, and possible rescue attempt.

"With our habit of finding trouble I would imagine the captain will probably set off in the morning, however he is still a day and a half's hard ride away at least" Athos replied glad to have something to distract him from the rather morbid and disturbing thoughts of what could be happening to their brother that were plaguing his mind.

"You almost make it sound like we go looking for trouble Mon Ami its more that trouble finds us" Aramis replied, however a slightly mocking eyebrow raise from Athos had him rethinking his statement. "Okay its MOSTLY trouble finding us" he amended with a cheeky conspiratory wink to Porthos who replied with a mischievous grin.

Shaking his head at his brother's antics Athos focused once again at the situation at hand "We resume the search at first light. Two hour watches in the meantime, we don't know if there are any more of the bandits from yesterday lurking about or if the people who took D'Artangan are sill about so stay on guard. I'll take first watch so you two get some sleep."

Aramis and Porthos grew more serious as Athos spoke and nodded once he finished before moving to lie down and sleep. "Wake me in two hours" Aramis spoke before he covered himself with one of the three remaining blankets.

Athos nodded, even though Aramis couldn't see him and turned to the entrance of the cave. _Where are you D'Artangan? We will find you just stay alive until we do._


	5. Chapter 5

**2 DAYS LATER**

Heaving a frustrated sigh Athos continued his search at the forest's borders for any sign of their missing gascon. In the time his protégé had been missing the three remaining brothers had examined and searched a great deal of the forest for any sign of him. Having little luck Athos had instructed his brothers to split up, sending Aramis into the village they passed through earlier in their mission when all four brothers had been present to see if he could use his incredible charm and charisma to locate any information or rumors of where their brother might be or who might have him. Porthos had been sent south through the forest, the only area the men had not yet had a chance to check when they searched together whilst Athos searched near the border of the forest and the road that led to Paris knowing that Captain Treville would most likely be arriving shortly and the sooner he could get his commanding officer up to speed on the situation to sooner they would have extra manpower to help find and rescue his little brother whilst also delivering their own personal justice on anyone who had harmed him.

Athos almost found himself hoping that D'Artangan had been injured in the original bandit attack and being the stubborn gascon that he was he had ignored the wound whilst tending to them and had simply passed out and a kind soul had found him and taken him to tend to his wounds and that was why he had not yet returned to them, though he was having trouble believing that.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he spotted five blue cloaked riders approaching, one easily discernable as Captain Treville. Breathing a sigh of relief that him and his brothers were now no longer alone he spurred his horse on to meet the captain in the middle.

Seeing a healthy and relatively injury-free Athos approach him Treville felt the strongest urge to reprimand the man for causing him to worry and have to come searching for him. Leaving the King to the mercy of the Cardinals influence was not something he would ever do by choice, however he looked out for his men, especially these four who seemed to attract trouble unlike anyone he had ever met. One look, however, at the weary, worried and almost panicked look on Athos had him immediately squashing any ideas of punishment or reprimand. Something serious had happened and he needed to know what now! The fact that none of the other three were not with him worried Treville more than he would ever publicly admit.

"Report Athos." He commanded as soon the men met each other in the middle of the road. At such closeness Treville could see the man was clearly sporting a broken hand and at least several carefully stitched cuts on his arms if the flash of bandages under his sleeves were anything to go by. Treville felt his gut tightening at what that implied for the rest of the quartet.

"Bandits attacked us on our way back several days ago. Aramis took a sword to his side and Porthos a musket ball to the leg. All the wounds have been taken care of and Aramis is currently in the village at the other side of the forest while Porthos is searching in the southern part of the forest" Athos replied.

Treville relaxed slightly with the knowledge that his men, whilst wounded were safe, though something Athos said clearly confused the man as he cocked his head to the side slightly "Searching for what exactly and what of D'Artangan?" He did not miss the slight wince Athos gave at D'Artangan's name, the sickening feeling in his gut returning as Athos sighed before continuing with his explanation.

"D'Artangan is missing, has been for at least three days." Ignoring the shocked looked on Treville's face Athos continued "We woke in a cave not too far from here several days ago, our wounds all carefully tended to and taken care of. It was several hours later that we grew concerned as to D'Artangan's location as he had not returned from gathering water and hunting. Since then we have been searching the forest for any sign of him. Having no luck we decided to split up and reconvene at the cave at sundown " Athos finished.

Nodding grimly at the news Treville straightened himself in the saddle "lead on to this cave then Athos its almost sundown, we can rest the horses and come up with a new search plan now that there are more of us"

Athos gave Treville a small grateful smile and nodded whilst turning his horse around to lead the men back to the cave _I hope Porthos or Aramis found something, we're running out of places to search _

As Porthos once again ducked to avoid getting smacked in the face by a branch he cursed Aramis for getting to go to the village while he was stuck in the forest getting attacked by trees! He had been searching the southern part of the forest steadily since they had split up earlier this morning and the gradually diminishing light told him that he would soon have to head back to the cave. Growling in frustration at not having found his little brother yet, he pushed his horse on, determined to reach the river he could hear in the distance before returning to his remaining brothers. Thoughts of what could be happening to his little brother at that precise moment was the only thing that kept him pushing on despite the pain in his leg.

An hour later with the river searched and nothing being found he regretfully turned his horse around to head back to the cave _I hope Athos or Aramis found something the whelps running out of time._

Aramis was extremely happy to be searching the village instead of the forest. Not only did people in small villages love to gossip, so nothing stayed secret long but it also gave him the chance to replenish some of his medical supplies, knowing in his gut that he would need them when they found D'Artangan. He figured he could also purchase some wine for Athos as his worried state had drained them of the wine they had brought with them for the journey and a stone-cold sober Athos was a snappy person at the best of times and this certainly didn't qualify as a best of time.

After he had purchased his supplies and spoken with several people about D'Artangan, none of who seemed to know anything, Aramis decided to visit the tavern. Drunks, he reasoned had loose lips and would be more inclined to talk then a farmer whose work he had interrupted.

Upon reaching the tavern in the late afternoon Aramis quickly spotted the young barmaid who had given them directions several days ago when they passed through the village to deliver the letter for the king.

"Monsieur Aramis?" the barmaid enquired with a cheeky grin "Not lost again are you?" Smiling at what felt like the first time in days Aramis removed his hat – having found it several days ago with the rest of their supplies and saddlebags in the cave, and approached the barmaid "Ah sweet mademoiselle it is a pleasure to see you again" he said before placing a small kiss on the young girls hand, causing her to blush slightly "Alas it is not me who is lost this time I'm afraid. My little brother D'Artangan is missing following a bandit attack in at the edge of the forest several days ago. I was hoping perhaps you or one of your fine patrons might have heard something about a captured or injured musketeer in the last few days."

The girl frowned at this, she liked the musketeers they treated her courteously and even stepped in when one of the passing-through merchants had become a bit of a grabby drunk. They didn't even seem to mind her asking a few questions about their adventures when the tavern quieted down. She was determined to help these men if she could, especially after seeing the worried look on Aramis's face when he explained what happened. Then her head shot up as she remembered a conversation she had overhead a few days ago.

Aramis had watched as the girl's expression had changed from frowning at the situation to a look of determination and finally a look of intense concentration as she clearly tried to remember if she knew anything that could help him. Hope surge through him for the first time in days as her head shot up as she remembered something.

"What is it mademoiselle" he asked desperately trying to keep the tone of hope and excitement at possible information out of his voice.

"I'm not sure if it relates to D'Artangan as I never heard him say that name" the girl started hesitantly "A couple of evenings ago a man came in to the tavern, after a couple of drinks he started complaining into his drink about a stubborn boy who refused to talk. I couldn't stay around to hear more unfortunately as it started to get busy"

Aramis could feel both hope and panic rising within him. The man had clearly been after information, which meant if the boy was D'Artangan, he was likely, alive but the fact he had refused to talk, which Aramis was proud of him for, meant that in all likelihood the boy would be in dire need of his medical skills when they found him. He pulled himself from these thoughts however when he realized the girl was about to talk again.

"He's been in the last few nights, sometimes alone but once was joined by another few men." Aramis frowned at that, sudden appearance of more men meant that it would be a fight of some description to reach D'Artangan if he was being guarded by more that one man. "Last night though-" the barmaid continued once again snapping Aramis from his thoughts "Last night he seemed angrier than before and was cursing 'musketeer scum'. The owner almost had to throw him out as he continued ranting on, a musketeer had saved him from being attacked and mugged last time he was in Paris so he doesn't take kindly on people slating them" She smiled at him.

Aramis found himself wanting to dance around the place after learning that this was an extremely possible lead. Turning to the young barmaid who was clearly happy with being able to help "You, my dear mademoiselle, are an angel! Thank you for this information! Do you think you could describe this man to me its crucial that I find him as soon as possible" The young girl turned beet red at the musketeers praise before she remembered that she was asked a question. "I can monsieur, though there is no need as that's him there" she said before nodding to the man who had just walked in.

Aramis couldn't believe his luck; turning back to the barmaid he once again kissed his hand before thanking her again. Then he focused on giving the man approaching the bar his best Athos glare as he grabbed the man's arm.

"What the hell do you think your-" the man started angrily before freezing as he saw the pauldron sitting proudly on Aramis's shoulder. Noticing the man's shock and fear Aramis felt himself smile evilly.

"Now monsieur I do believe that you information about my young musketeer brother" he stressed the word so the man realized the importance of the man he had in his custody "Myself and my other brothers are most interested to hear it so I'm afraid you'll be coming with me."

This seemed to grab the man's attention as he spat at the musketeer "I ain't going 'nywhere with you musketeer scum!"

"Oh I was so hoping you would say that," Aramis stated calmly before delivering a swift strong blow to the man's temple, knocking him out instantly. Tipping his hat in thanks to the barmaid once again he carried the man to his horse. Once he was successfully tied to the horse Aramis mounted and sped back to the cave, praying that his brothers and Captain awaited him there, as this information couldn't wait. _Please PLEASE let them be there!_


	6. Chapter 6

Aramis pushed his horse as much as he dared and his side would allow knowing, from the information he had gathered from the barmaid that D'Artangan would probably be in bad shape. He needed to get to his brothers and come up with a plan like yesterday if the woman's comment on the, currently passed out man's, growing frustrations at the 'boy' were true. He hoped Athos had not been wrong in his assumption that the captain would likely appear today, they needed all the extra help they could get to reach their missing brother as quickly as possible.

Athos, Treville and the other musketeers that he had brought with him arrived at the cave first, not overly surprised to be the first ones there seeing as the sun had only just started to set when they reached what had been the men's safe haven for the last few days. While they were waiting for the others Athos began to explain to those around him, but mostly his captain, the events of the last week in more detail – from the completion of their given mission, to the bandit attack, waking up in the cave and everything in between and everything they had learnt since waking up.

As he was finishing up his explanation the men were alerted to the arrival of one of the missing musketeers, Athos moved quickly to his brother's side as Porthos dismounted his horse, desperation for good news – or any news at this point – evident on his face. One look at his leaders face had Porthos answering the currently unasked question, "No sign of the pup." Athos visibly deflated some more upon hearing this, before he remembered that Aramis wasn't back yet and he may yet have news, a fact he felt compelled to mention to Porthos at the look of guilt and frustration on his brothers face for returning with no news.

"Sit and rest that leg while we wait for Aramis. He will not be happy if you've pulled that needlework" Athos stated kindly seeing the usually strong and study musketeer clearly favouring one leg to place all of his weight on. Smiling at his brothers' attentiveness Porthos silently accepted the man's help in getting into a sitting position before being drawn into a conversation with his captain.

"ATHOS! PORTHOS!" Aramis's shout had the men on their feet in a flash knowing something must have happened or gone wrong for the marksman to ignore the agreement they made on realizing D'Artangan had been taken that they do not bring attention to themselves or their currently location whilst in the forest in case the same men that took their little brother were still about.

Racing outside they were greeted by a clearly tired and in pain Aramis coming to a stop before them with an unknown and obviously unconscious man tied to the back of his horse.

"Captain" he breathed relieved at the sight of the man "Thank God you're here, we'll need your help as soon as this fine gentleman tells us were him and his friends are keeping D'Artangan." He spoke with such casualness that anyone who didn't know him could mistake it as harsh, given the current situation. However his friends could easily hear the coldness hidden in his words, along with the promise of pain on the man should he not talk.

Athos was the first to react to the news however "He knows where D'Artangan is?" knowing full well that the sharpshooter wouldn't have brought him if he wasn't sure, but still he needed to hear it.

Aramis seemed undisturbed by the apparent lack of faith in his abilities conscious it was only concern for their missing friend that caused him to voice the question, instead he turned to the man with an evil smirk "yes, and as soon as we wake him up he's going to tell us."

The three musketeers with their captain then proceeded to drag the man into the cave intent to get information as soon as possible, while the remaining men set to work readying the horses and supplies, knowing that they would be setting out the second that man gave them the location of the newest member of their regiment.

Inside the cave the men watched as their captive began to wake up, all secretly disappointed that they didn't get the chance to slap the man awake.

"Errrgh were am I" the man asked groggily as he tried to focus on the four very pissed off men in front of him.

"I do believe I already told you that me and my brothers were very eager to hear about what you and your friends have done with our little brother did I not?" Aramis stated nonchalantly, however the act of casual indifference was ruined by the pistol he was spinning between his fingers as he spoke.

Relishing in the fear-filled audible gulp the man gave when he spotted the dagger Treville approached the man "You have exactly ten seconds to start talking about what you know about my missing soldier before I turn my back and let these men do whatever they have to do to get you to talk, choose wisely."

It didn't take more than a few moments for the man to realize the seriousness of the situation he was in before he broke his earlier resolve of not telling them anything "It was all Pierre's idea!"

The men shared a grin at the confirmation that this man knew where their missing friend was. Athos turned back to the prisoner "Go on.."

Taking a large gulp of air the man began his tale "Pierre said he heard rumors of a group of musketeers passing through the area. He knew we all 'ad reason to hate you lot 'nd the king. We figured we'd follow for a bit and wait for an opening then we could get whoever we could grab to tell us what we needed to know"

"Musketeers don't talk willingly. Nor do they break easily" Athos practically growled at the man, who simply shrugged "Pierre's persistent, he has his ways-"

"Keep talking" Porthos growled from where he had stepped beside Athos, placing a hand on the man's arm to stop him from launching himself at the man at what that sentence suggested had befallen their youngest.

"We lost sight of you for a while after the attack – couldn't stay close and risk getting caught up in the middle after all… It was luck that brought us to the runt at the lake…"

**FLASH BACK**

_D'Artangan approached the lake with caution, his concern for his injured brothers might be over taking most things but he refused to approach the open area without first doing a careful check of the area, he could not help his brothers if they got worse if he himself was injured after all._

_Relaxing in the knowledge that the area appeared safe he allowed himself to get distracted by thoughts of how best to try to rouse the three still unconscious men waiting for him in the cave. _

_Such was his distraction that he did not notice the lone man stealthy approaching behind him, until that is, he felt the sharp pain of an impact to the side of his head before his world went dark._

_When he next awoke his was in a cold stone room with his hands, bound tightly with rope, pulled above his head, forcing him to stand to remove the pressure on his wrists. _

_His brain then focused on either panicking about his injured brothers – what if they developed an infection? Who would treat them? – And fighting of waves of pain and nausea that threaten to overtake him._

_It was during this time, with his brain focusing on only one thing at a time, that three of his captures entered. The leader of the group capturing his attention when he spoke up "Well, well, well looks like the runts finally awake huh? Good now we can get started."_

_The resulting hours and days were filled in agony, both physical and emotional, for the young musketeer. His main interrogator, a man equally the size if not bigger than Porthos, who he learnt was called Pierre, was extremely eager to not only get the information he wanted out of the man but also to hurt a musketeer. D'Artangan learnt very quickly that the man had a deep hatred of the regiment, though his pain addled brain had not let him discern why. _

_The man was vicious with his interrogation of the young musketeer but still the man refused to speak, save for the occasional sound of pain. It was on the second day however that Pierre really stepped up his torture of the young man. It was at this point that D'Artangan realized that Pierre had absolutely no qualms about killing him if he continued to deny the man information for much longer, and in the blessed moments when he was left alone he also realized he would not hold out much longer without his brothers, particularly Aramis's, help. This sent another wave of panic through him as he realized that he did not know if his brothers were even still alive – he could be truly alone once again. _

_Mentally slapping himself for giving in to such morose and morbid thought he focused on getting out – his brothers were musketeers! And musketeers did not die easily, they lived and he WOULD see them again._

**END FLASH BACK**

Finishing telling the, still VERY angry and armed musketeers in front of him what he knew of their missing member he turned to the captain and, unable to hide the fear in his voice, asked "So what you gonna do to me now?"

"Now." Treville growled and he hauled the man to his feet "Now you show us the way."

It had taken them several hours to reach the abandoned farm at the southern border of the forest and while the four musketeers that had accompanied the captain originally fanned out to check and hold the perimeter. Treville turned to their prisoner who was currently bound securely to D'Artangan's horse "Where is he?" before passing the horses reigns to one of the men who returned from checking the perimeter and heading off with his top three men to the root cellar the man had pointed out.

Taking out Pierre and his men was a lot easier than they originally thought it would be with none of the men having any form of training with weaponry that could even begin to dream of equaling a musketeers.

With all the men dead, or in Pierre's case dying the musketeers and their captain took a proper look around the cellar, the sight that greeted them made their blood turn to ice and made Athos wish that Pierre wasn't so clearly fatally wounded so he could kill the man again… Slowly.

The floor around the center of the room was covered in blood _their little brothers blood _Athos realized paling at the sight of it. Several knives covered in blood lay discarded on a table nearby along with several other painful looking instruments.

However the one thing they all noted was that D'Artangan himself was not there. "Where is he!" bellowed Porthos at the dying Pierre, whose response was to simply spit blood at the large musketeer

"Well that wasn't very polite" Aramis stated as he knelt down by the dying man bring the man's focus onto him "Now you can tell us where our brother is or I can make your passing a thousand times more painful for you. Its your choice." And if it was possible the already pale man paled further at the sharpshooters threat, before he grinned at the knowledge of the wounded musketeer "t…the runt… esc...Escaped…earlier…though…I…doubt he's…still…alive" Pierre wheezed out before finally dying.

Aramis shot up at the realization of his brother's critical condition. "FAN OUT!" he shouted "HE CAN'T HAVE GONE FAR"

The men scattered quickly knowing they had to find D'Artangan fast or they'd probably be bringing home a corpse.

It was Porthos who found him, completely by accident as he tripped over the boy's leg whilst he was looking in the opposite direction. "D'Artangan!" he yelled as he dropped to his knees to better examine the boy who was currently out cold, face first in the dirt. Turning over Porthos recoiled at both the sight of the wounds on his brother and the heat radiating off of him. The boy needed help FAST "ARAMIS! OVER HERE!"


	7. Chapter 7

Treville didn't think he'd ever seen Aramis move so fast as he did when Porthos's shout sounded through the air. The medic had practically flown to the larger man's side within seconds, and if the desperate pleading of D'Artangan's name mixed with a string of Spanish, that the captain strongly suspected was the sharpshooter cursing Pierre and his men, was anything to go by his newest soldier was in worse shape then any of them had anticipated.

And then, as if the universe was trying to spite them, the heavens opened and within seconds every man was soaked.

Athos and Aramis had reached Porthos's side within seconds of each other, the medic's focus immediately locked on to the unnaturally still and pale young man lying on the floor, covered in so much blood, all in different stages of drying and clotting it was apparent that the gascon had been bleeding for a while.

So focused on his charge was Aramis that it was only when Porthos cursed the sudden rain that the medic became aware of his surroundings.

"We need to get him out of here!" the medic's shouted over the pounding rain, panic for their young friend clearly evident in his voice. "He's weak enough already this rain is doing more damage to him!"

Athos steeled himself at the sight of Aramis panicking over the rain. Their gascon had suffered through enough near-death situations to last several lifetimes and still managed to pull through, every single time. He knew that worrying at this precise moment was doing nothing to help the boy currently bleeding to death on the ground. He was not a medic like Aramis but there was something he could do for the boy now.

"Porthos!" he barked, snapping the larger man's attention away from his attempts to rouse their fallen friend. "Get the horses, we need to get back to the cave, its closer than the village, it'll be dry and Aramis can get to work. My horse can easily carry two at speed for such a distance and the sooner we get him out of the rain the better."

Grateful to do something to help his brother Porthos raced to get the horses, filling in the captain and the over musketeers, who had been watching at a respectful distance – knowing that the boy would need his brothers more than them at the moment if he was to pull through.

Once Athos was mounted with a still unconscious D'Artangan tucked safely in his arms he nodded to Porthos and they kicked the horses into a canter, Aramis had raced off as soon as he saw his horse, eager to get things ready for when the men arrived with his patient.

Arriving to the cave Athos was pleased to Aramis had, had enough time to relight the fire and lay out a blanket and his supplies and was waiting on the ground to being, what would most likely be the monumental task of saving their youngest life.

"He's burning up 'Mis" Athos stated to the medic, concern seeping into the short sentence as he laid his injured protégé down by the medic.

Aramis took a deep breath before taking a knife to, what remained of D'Artangan's shirt. What awaited him made his blood turn cold. There was not a patch of his brother's chest that wasn't covered in either blood or almost black bruises.

"I need water, and cloth" Aramis instructed his brothers, who at the hollowness of their medics voice and the sight of their injured brother forced themselves to swallow their rage and move to get the items requested. Only to be stopped by Treville passing over a bucket and several cloths "How is he" he asked gruffly as Athos took the bucket with a nod of thanks.

"Bad… Really bad" the usually chipper medic supplied without looking up from gently cleaning off the blood that covered their young gascon. "Most of his ribs are broken or badly bruised, he has several deep stab wounds, which are covered in the dirt he was laying in which means they're almost guaranteed to get infected – he looks like he hasn't had much, if any food since he's been gone, or gotten proper rest which is putting his body in an even more critical state." He paused, looking up at the men surrounding him making sure they understood what he was about to say "and that is just his front, I haven't even moved onto the rest of him yet. I… I do not know if he can pull through this one." Unwilling to divert his focus from his charge for long, in case his panic overtook him, he returned to what he could do, because despite what he said to his brothers he was determined not to let the young man in front of him go without a fight.

During Aramis's explanation of D'Artangan's wounds Athos found himself flickering between wanting to punch something and drinking himself into oblivion, a particularly pain filled hitched breath from the gascon had him shaking such thoughts from his mind and moving to take his hand, he might not be able to do much but damned if his brother was going to face this alone, only to curse under his breath when he felt the unmistakably disfigured hand of his protégé "Aramis" his tone was like cold steel and had the medic lifting his head from where he had been stitching one of the many stab wounds that littered the man's chest _He's going to have so many scars _he remarked sadly. Athos voice drew him from his thoughts "You need to check hands, Pierre did some real damage" he explained carefully lifting the limb to show the medic, who paled further at the sight, before immediately checking the other one, immensely pleased when he realized that, although bruised it had not be subjected to the same amount of damage as the other.

"Fuck!" Porthos swore as he saw the offending limb. Each finger looked to be either broken or dislocated and every fingernail had been pulled from their proper place leaving the lad with a mangled bloody mess that could easily make those with the strongest stomachs loose their lunches.

Aramis moved quickly, unwilling to leave the few still bleeding stab wounds he had yet to stitch alone for long, but he knew if the lad was to have any hope of regaining full function of his, thankfully not dominate, hand the bones would have to be set and joints reset as soon as possible. Grimacing as his actions to save the hand drew a heart-wrenching whimper from their young pup the medic quickly bandaged up the hand, once again thankful for his earlier initiative to buy more medical supplies, before turning to the men beside him "get his breeches off, I'm almost finished stitching his front. I need to know the state of his legs before we can move him so I can look at his back"

Relieved to have something to do then to be left with their dark thoughts the men made quick work removing the youngster's breeches – both breathing sighs of relief when they saw the lack of damage there – some prominent bruising but thankfully nothing broken. Relaying this information to their medic caused a ghost of smile to grace the man's face.

"D'Art's got some cuts on his feet, probably from the stones near where we found 'im. Don't look deep enough to need your needlework 'Mis I'll clean and bandage them"

Nodding his thanks he turned to Athos "As soon as Porthos is done we need to turn him over. If this is what happened to his front I can only imagine what his back looks like"

They were stopped from talking further when the quietest voice whispered out "'Mis?" that one pain laced word had all three men wanting to cry as they turned sharply to see their little brothers eyes, glazed with pain and fever staring at the medic.

"Mon Dieu! D'Artangan you're awake!" Aramis felt like kissing the boy, such was his joy of seeing the lad awake, though the boy's next sentence had his heart breaking for the gascon "…'Mis… E… Ev… Everythin' … Hurts"

Running his hand through the gascon's hair soothingly Aramis spoke as softly as he could to the young man "rest D'Artangan" he implored, desperate for his friend to return to the freedom from pain that only unconsciousness could provide at this point "We have you D'Artangan, just rest." He sighed in relief when the man, as if waiting permission, returned to the blissful oblivion of unconsciousness. Looking at the hopeful faces of his brothers Aramis returned to medic mode "That he woke up was a very good sign. If his back isn't too bad and we can keep both infections and his fever at bay he has a chance. Now help me turn him"

The three men worked tirelessly through the night to put their young gascon back together again. His back had been worse then any of them could imagine. The boy had clearly been whipped – numerous painful gashes were prominent on his back, as were several deep burn wounds that looked to be from a burning poker being pushed against the boy's skin and held there for a while. The burns had shown signs of being in the early stage of infection, but Aramis was hopeful he could stop them getting worse.

The men had ignored everything that wasn't related to the young man in front of them, ignoring the pull on their own wounds, Treville asking for information and the other musketeer's attempts at getting them to eat something.

Dawn was beginning to break when Aramis finally declared he was finished with the boy – who was now covered almost head-to-toe in bandages and smelt like something between an apothecary's and a tavern what with all the poultices applied on bandages and the alcohol used to clean the wounds.

Despite being exhausted none of the three men looked ready to leave their charge and it was only when the captain threatened to hold them down and force feed them and then knock them out that they agreed to eat something before resting – once they had the captain promise to wake them if anything changed.

Looking at the pale young soldier laying next to him Treville couldn't help but be reminded of the last time he'd seen the boy awake before they all left for their mission. The boy had been chasing after Porthos as the big man had once again stolen the lad's breakfast. D'Artangan had been so full of life and energy. _Such a stark contrast to now. _He mused before switching his gaze briefly to his three sleeping men before returning it to the brother they had left in his care. _Don't you dare die on us D'Artangan. Those men wont survive it if you do._


	8. Chapter 8

The three exhausted musketeers had barely been asleep for two hours when a pain-filled scream sliced through the air, causing the men to jump to their feet – weapons drawn as they searched for the cause of the sound.

Their attention was immediately drawn to Treville, who was desperately trying to calm a frantic D'Artangan from thrashing and screaming as the lad was clearly in the clutch of a severe nightmare, even in his unconscious state. "Peace D'Artangan, you're safe lad just calm down!" Treville's desperate plea to their youngest snapped the men from their frozen state at the sight of their brother in pain. They rushed to D'Artangan's side in an instant. Aramis, settling back into medic mode straight away, placed a hand to the boy's forehead before almost recoiling at the heat coming off of his little brother. "We need cold water, NOW! This fevers getting too high. If it continues to climb he could seize!" the medic yelled to no-one in particular, knowing the order would be seen quickly he began checking the wounds on the young man in front of him for signs of infection. Swearing as he found several wounds beginning to fester he reluctantly left the boy's side to go and prepare a large batch to poultices, desperate to stop the wounds getting worse.

At the sight of his protégé in a pain filled nightmare Athos had rushed to sit by the boy's head, whispering comforting words and running his had through his hair – the same as he had done for his blood brother Thomas whenever he had suffered a nightmare as a child. Athos breathed a large sigh of relief when his actions appeared to be soothing the wounded man in front of him. Sharing a glance at Porthos, who had positioned himself by D'Artangan's uninjured hand – gripping it strongly in an attempt to anchor the boy to them and help him escape the dream, their eyes echoing each others fear for the boy they had both come to love dearly as a brother.

"ne…need…t…to…get…back" panted D'Artangan sleepily as his head tossed softly, drawing the attention of all three of his brothers and pulling Aramis away from re-bandaging the stab wounds on the boy's chest.

"ne…need…t…to…get…back" he repeated before letting out a small whimper of pain that tore at his brothers hearts

"Get back where lad?" Porthos asked the unconscious gascon, not really expecting an answer but needing to say something. So needless to say he was surprised when D'Artangan's head turned towards him as the boy's eyes opened – though he could tell by the fact they were glazed over in pain and fever that the boy wasn't really back with them, not yet.

"Th…They're…hurt…ha…have…to…help" D'Artangan murmured quietly, though each man strongly doubted whether he realized he was doing it.

Athos, being the closest to the man was able to make out what he was saying more clearly than his brothers so was the first to put together what the man was talking about. Sighing fondly at the young man whose head was now in his lap he resumed stroking his hair "We're safe D'Artangan, you saved us. Be at peace." This seemed to placate the injured man as his eyes closed once again and he fell into a more peaceful sleep.

Over the next few hours D'Artangan's nightmares return with a vengeance as the fever coursed through his already weakened body and the three elder musketeers found themselves alternating between assuring the lad that they were healthy and okay and restraining him as he thrashed, reliving the torture he had undergone in the last few days.

Fear was building in Aramis's gut, he knew his brother could not survive much more of this fever. Each time he thrashed he only served to further damage himself and Aramis found himself wondering how much more his brothers battered body could take before it simply gave out.

He forced himself to shake of these morbid thought and remain positive, the nightmares that caused him to thrash were slowly becoming less prominent and his fever, although high, hadn't risen anymore.

It was another several hours before Aramis let a small flame of hope burn in his chest. D'Artangan seemed cooler than he had previously, and had managed a couple of hour's undisturbed sleep. Finding a moment to breath Aramis looked to his other brothers – both had fallen asleep, leaning against the wall of the cave. Porthos still gripping D'Artangan's hand – though now with significantly less force and Athos had his hand in D'Artangan's hair. Smiling fondly at the sight Aramis retuned his gave to the young gascon, surprised to find the boy staring at him, looking blessedly more lucid then the last time the lad had opened his eyes.

"…'Mis?" D'Artangan croaked, disbelief and hope filling the word, as if he wasn't sure whether the man was truly before him or not.

"Yeah D'Art I'm here, so are Athos and Porthos" he replied softly gesturing to the sleeping brothers on the other side of D'Artangan "How are you feeling little brother?" the medic asked as he went to check the infected wounds – forcing himself to ignore the wince of pain the action drew from D'Artangan but felt himself relax as he saw the wounds looking much clearer and less infected.

"…'Mis 'u okay?" D'Artangan's question surprised the medic so much it must had shown on his face as the gascon continued "…y…you were…hurt…side" the boy mumbled sleepily.

Shaking his head at the fact the boy seemed oblivious to his own pain at the moment "I'm good D'Artangan-"

"We all are thanks to you" interrupted a rather somewhat groggy sounding Athos

D'Artangan turned his head at the sound of his mentor's voice. "'Thos… P'thos." Smiling tiredly at the sight of both his other brothers' awake and healthy, relief loosening his lips before he could stop himself from voicing the fear that had kept him going throughout his torture. "Thou…thought I … failed… thought I … let…you die…don'…wanna…be…left...alone…again" he said quietly, exhaustion becoming apparent as he spoke.

Smiling softly at his stubborn brother who seemed determined to stay awake, despite the needs of his body Athos returned to stroking the man's hair "You did not fail D'Artangan. We are all alive and well because of you. We will not leave you. Rest you've been through a lot. You're body needs rest"

"Mmm'kay" the boy mumbled before returning to the peaceful oblivion of sleep, content to know he was not alone and that his brothers would watch over him.


End file.
